Ignition
by vanitas hoth
Summary: It was those pale eyes, that dark hair, and the skin lighter than the moon, but that burned hotter than the sun when it brushed against him that served as the kindling. And it was those sinful kisses and forbidden touhes that ignited his senses.


Ignition

oOo

"N-Naruto-kun. Hi… um…"

Whenever Hinata talked to him, Naruto's stomach twisted into knots. His hands got sweaty and he never knew quite what to say. So now, as she approached him at the counter of Ichiraku's, his heart plummeted to somewhere near his stomach.

"Eheh, hey Hinata. Ah, what brings you here?" he stuttered around a mouthful of ramen. Naruto knew those wide, pastel eyes were scrutinizing him, and could probably see the bead of broth that dripped down his chin. He felt like slapping his forehead with his free hand, but it was too busy clutching the counter. Of course, the sweat gathering on his palms didn't exactly make it easy.

"Ah, n-nothing just, I wanted to see if m-maybe you could… if y-you wanted to c-c-come with me…"

"With you… where?"

A blush blossomed across her cheeks and she began to fidget with the sleeves of her jacket, her slim fingers twisting the fabric. Naruto cocked his head to the side. It was the middle of summer, and yet Naruto had never seen her without her coat, yet another thing to add to her overall eccentricity.

"Hinata, are you, uh, okay?"

She snapped to attention, heavy bangs flying away from her face. And, as always, she looked like a deer caught in the headlights. In the shade her eyes looked almost lilac, and her hair was a deep pitch. He gulped down another bite of noodles. _Just stay calm._

"I, ah, I…" trailing off, the heiress stumbled over her sentence. Naruto could see her veins pulse in time with her heartbeat, the blue tendrils like an elaborate web underneath her nearly translucent skin. His own heartbeat had picked up double time, and he was getting lightheaded.

"Hey, Hinata look. I know you're probably nervous, but it's ok! I mean it's only me and you can talk to me about anything because I'm always all ears and if you—"

"Will you come to my birthday party?" she blurted suddenly, 'meeping' when she realized what she'd done.

Naruto blinked. "What?"

Some deity had smiled on him for just as Hinata had inhaled to respond, Sakura pushed through the low hanging curtain, all smiles. "Hinata, Tsunade-sama said she wanted to see you."

Dejected didn't begin to describe how she looked as she shuffled from the stand. His heart was abandoned as his stomach joined his large intestine. Letting his chopsticks clatter onto the counter, Naruto ran his hands agitatedly through his hair, tugging at the strands in an attempt to ease his mental tension. "It's always the same thing!"

"Problem?"

"_No_!" he shouted, earning him a few odd stares. "I mean, no it's just the same ol' same ol'…" he continued, failing at the casual tone he was going for.

Sakura didn't look convinced, but she didn't press the issue because her face lit up as she thought of something. "Oh, did Hinata tell you about her birthday party? It's tonight, you know. We all planned it for her as a surprise," she explained, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger, "but Lee spilled. So, can you come?"

Naruto didn't know when he'd become a coward and a liar. It had almost been his gimmick to be brutally honest and not care what anybody thought of him. But here he was, lying to one of his closest and oldest friends. He was supposed to take whatever came at him as long as he followed his nindo.

He hid his growl by taking in another mouthful of noodles. It was almost painful to swallow, but he had to follow through with what he'd started. "I can't tonight, Sakura, I'm pretty beat from training…" Naruto grasped for anything to use as an excuse. He felt an empty pride in himself for not immediately going to shower after he'd sparred a couple rounds earlier that day. At least he looked credible, even though he felt fine.

Now he just needed to make Sakura think the exact opposite.

Sakura looked concerned. "If you want, I can have a look at you. You do seem a bit pale," she offered, verdant eyes narrowing underneath her frown.

Naruto managed the brightest smile he could muster and upped the wattage tenfold. "If I can find her a present, I'll come!"

He hoped that Sakura didn't come up with any gift ideas between now and whenever the party was supposed to start. The bottom of his bowl gleamed white and it was quickly taken away. "Do you want another, Naruto?" Ayame asked, already putting the order for more miso pork into the kitchen. He shook his head.

"Eh not today. Just put what I ate on my tab and I promise I'll pay you back later!" he laughed, hopping from his seat and stepping out into the sunlight. Suddenly, he felt like everybody was judging him. _'Look at that Naruto kid, can't even tell a lie half decent'_, or _'What kind of a ninja would lie to his best friend?'_Sakura appeared beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Over the years Naruto had grown taller, leaving her head about level with his chest.

"I _really_hope you can make it," she whispered. "You know Hinata would be crushed it you didn't."

That's what he was afraid of. Giving her hand a squeeze, Naruto took off into the hustle and bustle of late Saturday afternoon. Taking to the rooftops, he began to leap and hop his way home. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. Two days ago Hinata had cornered him at the training grounds asking for some one-on-one sparring. Because he couldn't find a way out of it, he'd agreed, but only ten minutes into the match and Hinata had taken her jacket off, revealing just _how much_ she'd grown while he was away.

Naruto had choked on his spit and excused himself, coming up with a lie about a previous injury that'd started acting up.

And the list of mishaps of the same sort was endless. Every time the situation had become too much for him to handle, Naruto had lied his way right out of it. Afterwards he'd curse at himself for lying; telling lies was for cowards who didn't have the guts to own up to stuff. He was not a coward, and he owned up to everything. No matter what.

So why had lying become so easy to him?

Naruto knew the answer. And it caused his stomach to ignite in butterflies, and at the same time twist into impossible knots. People who lied usually didn't do so without good reason. It wasn't like he was lying to his friends just because he felt like it. He would never, ever stop protecting his precious people and if lying was the only was to do it, then he shouldn't feel so bad about it… right?

When had his life become so difficult?

He knew that answer, too. The whole village knew that Hinata had had a crush on him for the longest time. And now, since her recent, albeit awkward advances had increased in frequency and determination, Naruto knew it as well. And it was exactly that crush that had put him into this dilemma in the first place. So now, the whole village knew that he'd been avoiding the Hyuga heiress for months now, sometimes cleverly, and most of the time just blatantly brushing her off. Hinata was sweet, beautiful, and strong if not shy, so it seemed perfectly natural to be nervous around her, didn't it?

Alighting on his windowsill that he never bothered to keep shut, Naruto hopped into his small apartment and fell onto his bed. The old thing creaked and squealed in protest, but Naruto just flopped onto his side and buried his face into his pillow. Relationships, or lack thereof, made every complicated. The wrong people wanted the wrong things from the wrong person. He was not some fountain of love and affection. But everybody wanted to take a sip of him, anyway.

"Could this possibly get any worse?" he groaned into his pillow, kicking his feet like a pissed off toddler.

"It could _definitely_ get better."

"Shit!" Naruto cursed as he successfully stabbed his neck on the kunai he kept underneath his pillow and crashed to the floor in a tangle of thin cotton sheets and an old knit blanket. "What the hell?!"

A languorous chuckle floated out from the shadows, its timbre deep and silken. "Language, Naruto."

Naruto frowned, wiping the blood from his neck and collar bone; the cut wasn't big, but it was deep. The moonlight streaming through his window didn't do anything to tell him the identity of his guest, but then again, he didn't need to see to know who it was. "Shouldn't you be at the party?"

Another chuckle, this one closer than before. "I'm not the guest of honor. They won't miss me for long."

Naruto frowned in the dark. "Yeah well, you always manage to work things out. I always end up screwed no matter what I do," he groused, groping for his nightstand, in which was stashed a roll of bandages.

"You _do_, don't you?"

Naruto didn't miss the innuendo and blushed furiously. "Shut up, you bastard! You shouldn't mock the injured, it slows the healing process." There was a shrill creak to his right; ninja or not, that spot could ruin anybody's attempt at a silent approach. Grinning, Naruto snorted, "So much for stealth."

He received no reply.

It quickly settled into a near suffocating silence. The only thing that Naruto could hear was his own breathing, which had become shallow and quick. He felt like he was being hunted, a mouse hiding from an owl in a dark forest. Because the owl had far superior vision and its eyes were made for hunting in the blackest of nights, his doom was inevitable. But, unlike the mouse, Naruto wanted to be caught. His heart thudded against his ribs and his eyes slid shut in anticipation. It was only a matter of time…

A breeze slid through the window, wrapping its cool coils around Naruto's flushed skin. It rustled the shades, which served as a perfect cover to hide his predator's landing on the bed. Before he knew it, Naruto's face had been pulled back by two hands that burned against his skin. Gasping, Naruto looked up for the face of his captor, but he only saw his cracked ceiling. A sharp lance of pain shot through his neck and he cursed again. "SHI—"

It was cut off.

Rather it was smothered and swallowed by a pair of warm, demanding lips that sent delicious chills down his spine. Though he'd been taken by surprise, Naruto didn't take long to melt into the kiss as it seared his senses. Completely at the other's mercy, it was all Naruto could do to stay sitting upright, his one hand remaining stationary on the floor to keep his balance while his mouth was ravaged. The other reached up and twined itself in thick, silky strands of hair, tugging at them desperately when the intensity of the kiss increased. The mere pace, fast and unrelenting, then so agonizingly slow that it made him whimper, was enough to make him lightheaded. When they finally broke apart, Naruto gasped, running his tongue over his bruised lips to taste the remnants of the sweetness the other had left there. A bead of sweat dripped into the hollow of his collarbone and his chest heaved.

"Who would have known shit could taste so divine," his companion mused, slim fingers tracing the outline of Naruto's lips. "You mouth astounds me."

"Yeah, and your sadistic nature astounds me. Thanks for all the help this afternoon at Ichiraku's. I really appreciated it," Naruto responded wryly between breaths, catching the other's hand and lacing their fingers together.

"It would have been awkward if I had just walked in. Besides, she was asking you on a date, my presence would have only deterred her."

Naruto harrumphed. "She was _not_ asking me on a date! And it would have been better than you hiding in the alley laughing at me the entire time. I was a freakin' wreck!"

"I don't know why. It was just Hinata."

Naruto floundered. He knew he was being baited, and for once, he was at a loss for a wise-ass comeback. Conceding defeat, he mumbled, "You know it wasn't because of Hinata."

"Oh? Then, do tell. Who was it that put those butterflies in your stomach and that stutter in your voice?"

The atmosphere had gone from casual to intense in one sentence and the change made Naruto's head spin. He was never one for being sweet or affectionate. Ever. He may broadcast his emotions for the entire world to see, but when it came to feelings of the romantic variety, he might as well have been a clam. But now… now he wanted to express them. He wanted the other to know how he felt. But damn if he knew how to do that.

"You already know who it was, so stop being an ass."

"It could have been Sakura for all I know. Enlighten me."

Naruto had to find a way to flip the script. "Would you rather it had been Sakura? She _is_pretty hot, you know," Naruto said cheekily. He was pleased to have escaped being on the receiving end of the blunt questions anymore.

"What are you talking about, Naruto?"

Naruto jerked to attention just as the lights cut on. Standing in his kitchen was Sakura, one hand on her cocked hip and one brow raised in suspicion. Her aura screamed 'what the hell?'. Naruto swallowed, knowing that he was caught. There was no way he could fib his way out of this one. And since he knew he wouldn't get any help from the second party, he was on his own. "Look, Sakura, I know this may look weird… and it probably is, but uh, I can explain?" he said hopefully.

"I hope so! What in world happened to your neck?" she as she swept in, kneeling down beside him and tilting his head back. "It looks puffy, what did this?"

Naruto gaped. "A kunai, I think," he replied absently, reeling from the lack of angry yelling. "Aren't you, like, disgusted?"

Sakura paused in her assessment to give him a flat look. "Naruto, I've seen a lot worse than this. It's just a puncture wound, but it does look infected…"

Naruto watched her as pale green chakra enveloped her hand. It felt cool against his neck, like aloe over a burn, and it tingled as it stitched the tissues back together. When she was done, her lips parted in a cheeky grin. "Man, I'm good. Now come on, the party's almost half way over," Sakura said as she tugged on Naruto's arm.

"Sakura, I know you have something to say, so just get it over with and say it!" he exclaimed, wrenching away from her grasp and jabbing his hand toward the bed behind him. "I don't know what you saw, but dammit I can't take your pretending to be ignorant! I know you see him!"

Her face twisted into an irritated frown. "Naruto, seriously, I'm beginning to doubt your sanity. We can talk about… whatever you're talking about on the way to the party but we really have to go. So go put on something nicer and get your ass in gear!" she gave him a push toward his dresser.

"Sakura, you're startin' to piss me off. Look!" he shouted, whirling around to face… an empty bed.

She looked at the bed, then at him, then at the bed again, clearly impatient. "Yes, Naruto I see it. An empty, unmade bed," she deadpanned. "Now stop messing around! Here," she shoved a box into his hands, "I got a present for you to give to Hinata because I knew you wouldn't bother."

The bed was empty. Naruto couldn't believe it. He'd been ditched, abandoned, deserted. He wanted to be angry, but all he could muster was dumb surprise. "Um, thanks. I'll just… I'll get dressed now."

"Good. And make it quick, I'm not going to miss the cake!"

oOo

When he'd come out of his closet with a cleaner version of his orange jumpsuit, Sakura had pounced on him. So now he sat in the courtyard of the Hyuga compound, shivering against the breeze that nipped at his skin through the non-existent mesh shirt. The skimpy garment was overlaid by a button down t-shirt with cut off sleeves, which did nothing but make him even more uncomfortable; Shikamaru, Kiba and Chouji had only just left him alone. Ino and Sakura had squealed over the pinkette's handiwork, and Lee had joined them because someone had slipped sake into his drinks.

They'd already sung happy birthday by the time he'd gotten there, so he'd eaten his piece of cake in grudging silence, brooding over a combination of being abandoned, and his ridiculous clothes. He'd made sure he said all he could say to Hinata beforehand so she couldn't corner him later. The last thing he wanted was to make a scene at her birthday party.

"Since when do you own clothes like that?" someone asked as they took a seat beside Naruto on the stone bench he was hunched on. "A tad risqué, don't you think?"

"Up yours."

"I was under the impression you liked _mine_ up _yours_. If you wanted to be top you should have said so," he whispered huskily, a devilish smirk on his lips. Naruto shrugged him off, still miffed about how he'd been dressed up like a doll.

"Do you realize how stupid I looked in front of Sakura? She thinks I'm insane!"

"So do I, but I'm still with you," he stated matter-o-factly. "Sakura is the biggest fangirl I've ever seen beside Ino and Tenten, so if she found out she'd probably demand an audience the next time we—"

"What the fuck?! Shut up or someone'll hear you!" hissed Naruto as Kiba, Akamaru and Lee ran by, half of Lee's jumpsuit around his waist. "Geez, do you want everyone to know?"

Naruto was not prepared for the austerity of his companion's reply. "And if I do? Will you keep us in the dark forever, so that we have to meet in secret and act as though what we share is immoral, like it doesn't even _exist_?"

"N-no, but I mean, I don't…" Naruto sighed, thoroughly frustrated. He didn't want to keep what they shared a secret, and he certainly didn't think what they had together was wrong. But he was worried of what their coming out would do to their friends, _his_friends, and how they would think of him afterwards. His friends were the most important people in his life, and he valued them above himself, sometimes. He couldn't alienate them. Without them, he didn't have a reason to live.

But…

Without _him_, he didn't have a reason to live, either.

How could he keep one without losing the other?

"Naruto, I'm tired of living in secrecy. I've sacrificed so much for this, for us… I want to be able to have something to show for it!"

"I know, I know, but what if—"

"No! I'm tired of buts and what ifs. I don't know what your inhibitions are, but you need to let them go," he pleaded softly, his voice low and thick with emotion. Naruto hung his head.

A gentle hand grasped his chin and pulled his face forward. They were inches away from each other, it would be so easy to just close the distance and forget their problems. Naruto's breath hitched, and his eyes fluttered shut…

"Neji-san! Joo must spar with meh, meh honorable rivaaallll!" screamed Lee from across the courtyard. His cheeks were tinted with a drunken blush and his body swayed unsteadily. "Let us fiiighttt in the name yooooouuuthhh!"

Another broken moment, more unanswered questions.

"We'll discuss this later," he said in parting, standing up and tossing his hair, which flowed freely down to his waist, over his shoulder. Naruto nodded halfheartedly, overwhelmed and defeated. It hadn't been Hinata to interrupt them this time, like she had at Ichiraku's and forced Neji to hide in the alley. But they were interrupted all the same. He sighed.

"So I hope that you're willing," he added in a whisper so low that even with his excellent hearing, Naruto had to strain to listen. Neji's breath was warm and teasing and Naruto suppressed a shiver. "Because I'm _certainly_ ready."

oOo

A/N: Well, I was on a Neji/Naruto kick at the time and this was the result. It _could_ be turned into a multi-chapter fic, but meh, I don't know. Oneshots have become kind of fun. Who knows? Anywho, I thank you for reading and I'd appreciate any reviews, or favs or whathaveyou. :)


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